


One Hell of A Year

by alatarmaia4



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Supernatural
Genre: Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-12
Updated: 2014-11-26
Packaged: 2018-02-25 04:13:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2608055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alatarmaia4/pseuds/alatarmaia4
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When a so-called 'wizard' calling himself Albus Dumbledore arrives on the Winchester's doorstep offering them a job at his school, it takes a lot to convince them to accept. But when they do, what changes and surprises are in store? Is a school rooted in ancient tradition ready for a couple Muggles who regularly go about killing creatures like them?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Surprise for Hogwarts-2011

**Author's Note:**

> Neither franchise belongs to me, I don't own any of the characters, blah blah blah
> 
> Warning: not beta read! I don't have a beta reader yet, so if anyone would like to volunteer that would be great.
> 
> Summary: Dean and Sam are offered a job at Hogwarts, and having nothing better to do, they accept and promptly send the student gossip wheel going faster than it has in years-or at least, since Harry's last 'scandal'. Takes place in third year. Just so you know, I've moved up the Harry Potter timeline so that Harry is now born sometime around '87, placing this story in 2011 around the time of Cas vs. Raphael and Cas dealing with Crowley

Their new Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers were insane.

Seriously, who knew off the top of their head what a Wendigo was, or get rid of a ghost? Apparently the Winchesters, who were famous enough among the Hogwarts ghosts that none of them dared to go near the brothers. Even Peeves avoided them, which was something in of itself.

Dumbledore had introduced them at the beginning of the year, saying that they were a special branch of American Aurors who specialized in magical creatures. Well, not only were they crazy, but Harry had yet to see either of them do a speck of actual magic. He was beginning to wonder whether or not they were actually magical, but that didn't make sense because if they were Muggles, neither of them would be able to see the castle, much less teach there.

Still, what kind of lessons were these? Their first lesson of the year, Gryffindor and Slytherin, highlighted the differences in the countries' creatures, werewolves and vampires in particular. The taller one thought that magical ghosts might have more control over themselves, but his brother apparently disagreed. Either way, the ghosts avoided the Winchesters for all the were worth.

* * *

 

Three weeks after Halloween, the Winchesters vanished.

In their place was a small, skinny man who acted as a substitute teacher and told them to call him Garth "Since I prob'ly won't be here for long, anyway." He had a drawling accent and looked like a strong wind might knock him over, but a story started going around that he'd come across a group of Slytherins harassing a Ravenclaw and tossed them all to the ground in seconds. Said Ravenclaw, who was named Luna Lovegood, spent lots of time with him discussing who-knows-what.

When he left and the Winchesters returned [after another two weeks, with cuts and bruises that they refused to talk about, and a strange, jumpy new attitude for the taller one] she told them something that startled them so badly they kept watch on her out of the corners of their eyes for months.

The shorter one had also stopped sitting at his desk, and Harry had walked into class one day with several other Gryffindors to see him locking shut a drawer in it. He wondered what he kept in the drawer, and why he kept it if it was so painful that he didn't want to be near the desk anymore.

One day, they invited Luna back into their office, and she stayed for an hour and came out as happy as she'd been after her talks with Garth. Shortly after that, several fifth-year Ravenclaws were docked points for an unknown reason. Whatever it was, it lost them so many points that they put Ravenclaw last.

They left again, only a month after their previous absence. This time, their substitute was an older man named Bobby Singer who took no crap and had everyone wishing for the brothers to come back, because at least they were a little more easygoing.

The Winchesters eventually came back, and once again no one ever found out what happened. The shorter started using his desk again, and his brother kept watching him carefully, like he thought the shorter might explode at any moment.

Hermione kept griping about how Dumbledore shouldn't have hired them of they were going to keep disappearing at random times.

* * *

 

The Winchester's lessons didn't get any less strange after their absence. If anything, they got weirder. While Harry's year was still on tulpas [a sort of creature whose life depended on how many people believed in it], supposedly the sixth and seventh years were learning about demons and hellhounds. No one knew where the Winchesters got their information, and it soon became widespread 'fact' that they had learned it all firsthand, and that was why Dumbledore had hired them.

Harry didn't believe it. How could anyone have survived contact with all of those creatures?

He only started to believe it when the taller one burst into the Shrieking Shack wielding a gun [Ron had no idea what it was, and only panicked later when Hermione explained it to him] and had Sirius against the floor before Hermione could disarm them. Even so, it took half an hour to convince him that Sirius was telling the truth, and that was only because for some reason he was carrying Veritaserum. That, and the appearance of Peter Pettigrew. He said that he figured no one who had nothing to hide would pretend to be a pet for twelve years. Once they had won him over enough that he stopped trying to kill Sirius, Ron asked where his brother had gone. Dean threatened him with his gun and refused to answer. Hermione just wanted to know where they had gotten Veritaserum.

[Harry would later be told the true story about the Veritaserum, about how really Dean was bored and neither of the Winchesters liked Snape so they bribed Peeves with immunity to distract him and raided his office. The Veritaserum had been labeled truth potion, and the brothers took every vial he had.].

Dementors had accosted them while walking across the grounds back to the castle, and all of them had nearly been kissed until a huge patronus leaped out of nowhere. Dean and Harry were struggling to hold on to consciousness when Dumbledore arrived, and brokenly told the story of his innocence. Luckily, whatever they'd tied up Wormtail with had kept him from escaping.

Third year ended with a bang, and Harry was heading off to the Dursley's with the hope that Sirius would be cleared in time for him to go live with his godfather-anywhere was better than the Dursleys.

He couldn't help wondering what would happen to the Winchesters.


	2. A Bigger Surprise - 2012

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Thanks to the guy that left kudos - you rock. This chapter came pretty fast, but I'm crossposting this from my fanfic account so it's already finished, I just have to post it here. Should all be up fairly soon!

He was still there.

Sam Winchester had come back to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts.

For the second year in a row.

Professor Winchester obviously didn't understand why his appearance had caused so much stir among the arriving students, and had leaned over to talk to Dumbledore.

There was one thing different, though; his brother was missing, and in his place was an older, lined man who wore a slightly tattered robe. He looked very tired, and Dumbledore introduced him as Remus Lupin, the new Defense aide. No explanation was given as to Dean's absence.

However, most of the students were soon distracted by Dumbledore's grand speech, the glory and fame of the Triwizard Tournament coursing like a spark from person to person.

The visiting schools were well received. Durmstrang in particular got several echoes of applause, because they definitely didn't teach Hogwarts students how to use magic like that. The boys drooled over the Beauxbatons girls and the Goblet itself made an impression on everyone, because however simple it looked, you couldn't disguise that kind of power.

* * *

 

The first day of class, Professor Winchester ended his introductory speech with the usual 'Any questions?' One girl, a Slytherin, raised her hand.

"Professor, what happened to your brother?" the Professor froze and the color drained from his face. When he found his voice, he took ten points from Slytherin for 'asking invasive questions' and dismissed them all fifteen minutes early, locking the classroom door behind them.

No one asked again.

And when the drawing of the names rolled around, and Harry's was picked, Professor Winchester just looked at him in class the next day and slipped a note under his parchment that offered lessons in self-defense for whatever might come up in the Tournament.

Harry accepted.

He really wished he hadn't.

Professor Winchester turned out to be an absolute slave driver, and all he did was teach Harry how to exercise properly. He gave him strange clothes to wear during his run, which Harry thought was weird but was grateful for later - who knew a person could sweat so much? Luna had shown up too - it turned out that she'd been taking lessons with him for most of last year as well. Harry tried not to be put out by the fact that she could run circles around him without breaking a sweat.

Either way, the practice paid off, but when Harry discovered the nature of the first task he began to think that he'd done it all for nothing. When he told Sam - and when had he stopped calling him Professor? - next weekend, Sam looked at him and told him they'd talk about it once Harry had finished for today.

While he and Luna rested in the Defense classroom, Sam helped him brainstorm ideas for how he could get past a dragon, though it was Luna who gave him the clue.

"You should use what you do best," she told him softly. "I hear you're very good at flying."

"I can't bring my broom to the task," Harry protested. Luna looked away and refocused her gaze out the window.

"Oh look," she said. "The fifth years are practicing Summoning Charms."

Sam sat up straighter. "Harry," he said urgently. "That's it. Summoning Charms."

* * *

 

Harry mastered the spell long before the task began, but only a couple hours before, Sam approached him. He held a sword broken off halfway down the blade and handed it to Harry, telling him that if he needed it, it could pierce even a dragon's hide.

Just in case.

Harry took it.

He didn't use it, and returned it after the task had finished.

[He never told anyone about it either].

* * *

 

The second task was more difficult; yet still the mysterious Professor Winchester proved to be one of the most helpful elements. While Hermione harassed Harry to start figuring out the clue in the egg, Sam had sent a letter to another friend of his to ask if it could possibly be a magical language.

Next time they saw each other, Sam passed on a book on the languages of magical creatures. It took Harry two days to figure out that the egg was screeching at him in Mermish, which according to the book he had to be underwater to understand. He got the password for the prefect's bathroom from Fred and George, and spent half of Saturday in there, repeatedly listening to the clue and trying to figure out its meaning.

A more urgent problem was the matter of how he was going to breathe underwater for an hour. The answer came from Neville, of all places, who had read in a book that Gillyweed allowed a person to breathe underwater for various lengths of time, depending on how much you ate. Harry eagerly accepted the offer, and didn't question where Neville had gotten it.

[It was from Snape's stores. Neville was in Gryffindor for a reason, though he could have just as easily been Hufflepuff]

Harry was almost late to the task, but choked down the weeds and dove underwater.

Later, he'd curse himself for being so stupid as to actually believe that they'd let the hostages die. When he asked Sam about it, Sam only said "Sometimes the right think is stupid too."

He didn't wonder how his professor had learned that.

[Maybe a little]

* * *

 

When the third task came and Harry vanished from the center, Professor Winchester was the first to go looking for him and Cedric.

When Harry came back clinging to his dead teammate's body, he didn't say anything, but detached Harry from Cedric and took him straight to the hospital wing.

He got a bottle of Dreamless Sleep from Madam Pomfrey and gave it to Harry immediately, saying that he could talk tomorrow but recovery came first.

Harry had nearly gone into shock from the night's incident, and took it obediently, barely processing what he was being told.

Sam was gone when he woke up. He'd left in the middle of the night, apparently, and his office was empty of everything except the furniture and a scrawled note asking for the details of what had happened when Harry felt up to giving them.

Harry sent a letter and resigned himself to a new Defense professor next year.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are appreciated, so please leave one letting me know what you think!


	3. The Second Return - 2013

Either Sam Winchester was the bravest man in the world, or he was an idiot, because come fifth year he was still sitting at the High Table.

The other Professor Winchester was back, too, which set off hissing whispers up and down the House tables. Sam had reacted so strangely when they'd asked what happened, and he was gone all year, yet Dean was there eating his dinner and looking no worse for the wear. Most people had thought he was dead - these were the people who were now staring in shock up at the staff table.

Harry was almost ready to give up on the enigma that was the Winchesters, because it seemed like every time they started to make sense a new fold was uncovered that put them back at square one. Even Hermione couldn't make sense of them, and she kept talking about how she was missing a part of the puzzle. Harry thought that, in terms of a puzzle, they were probably missing at least half of it.

That wasn't the only staffing change, though. An older woman sat in Hagrid's place, the half-giant nowhere to be seen. He didn't arrive throughout the whole feast, and the woman turned out to be his 'temporary replacement', Dumbledore continuing with the theme of not providing explanations for missing teaching staff.

* * *

 

The strangest incident of the year came during a Care of Magical Creatures lesson. Sam had come down to speak to Grubbly-Plank, and stopped dead when he saw the unicorns. When Grubbly-Plank encouraged him to go closer, the one he approached watched him carefully and then practically sprinted to the other side of the herd.

Sam watched it go with a peculiar expression, then turned around and walked back to the castle without speaking to the Professor.

"What on Earth could make a unicorn want to literally run away?" Hermione hissed, watching their Professor go. "What does he do?"

The most rampant rumors going around all concerned Dean, though several theories about the unicorn and Sam were added. Not one person in the student body knew what had happened to the shorter Winchester, and some said that even Dumbledore didn't know. Most of them involved him being kidnapped by some mysterious organization. One naïve first year spoke up and said maybe he'd died and come back, but that was quickly shot down. You couldn't bring people back from the dead, they said, and definitely not after a year.

When Dean mentioned that particular incident to Sam [he'd overheard the group talking in the library and quickly broken it up] they shared a look and both broke out into quiet laughter.

The most popular theory, however, had been thought up by one of the Ravenclaw prefects, who said that Dean had been off doing some dangerous Auror mission in America and had been grievously injured, putting him in a coma for most of the year, and he'd woken up over the summer. Most Muggle-borns rolled their eyes, knowing that if you were in a coma for a year you wouldn't just wake up out of the blue, but for the wizard-raised majority it was good enough.

[No one in the school knew that Sam and Dean knew about every single one of the rumors about them and spent some of their free nights laughing about them and picking apart the details "Oh come on, who thought of this one? That's ridiculous." "I don't know, Dean –snort-" "Shut up, Sam."]

* * *

 

Halfway through the year, Umbridge arrived.

Apparently, the Minister had originally tried to have her replace the Winchesters, but had failed at that. Instead, he'd created a new position called the 'Hogwarts High Inquisitor' and had Umbridge hired to that one. She spent a week observing all the teachers, and whatever happened during her observation of the Winchesters was enough that she stormed out halfway through the lesson. The seventh-years who had been in the class told everyone that they couldn't say - the Winchesters had asked them not to.

Three weeks later, the Winchesters were gone [again] and Umbridge was in their place. Sure, the Winchester's lessons were weird, and barely ever had to do with spells, but at least they had actually taught. The entire school loathed Umbridge, and a pair of ambitious Hufflepuffs drafted a petition to have her removed and the brothers reinstated, since they had apparently been fired and not left willingly.

The petition failed, but it gave everyone a little bit more happiness to find out later that the Winchesters had somehow managed to rig their office so they only they could enter it. When all magic failed and the teachers eventually resorted to breaking the door down, the entire room was covered in ancient symbols and runes that had been drawn on the wall in chalk. Written under a particularly large array were the words ADIOS, BITCH, along with a rather unflattering drawing.

The chalk refused to come off, and Filch spent hours scrubbing the walls before the office looked suitable. Umbridge had shrieked and yelled and tried all she could to get the Winchesters prosecuted, but they had already gone back to America and, since they weren't actually British citizens [much less British magical citizens] there was nothing to be done.

After the incident occurred, Fred and George purportedly set up a memorial to the Winchesters in honor of an awesome prank. No one ever found it.

[Years later, after everything was said and done, a first year would stumble across it in an abandoned classroom and send it to the brothers, who got a huge kick out of it. They kept it in a storeroom and send the twins a letter thanking them].

When Harry dreamed about Mr. Weasley getting bitten, no one knew what to make of it. They retreated to the Grimmauld place, and Harry steamed about the fact that, even though he'd been living with Sirius since before he'd turned fourteen [the trial had gone well and Pettigrew was now in Azkaban] he had to spend the break here. Sirius liked it even less. He got frustrated enough to corner Dumbledore and ask him about the vision, which resulted in demanding answers, which led up to a huge shouting match that resulted in the entire Order and the Weasleys plus Harry finding out that Dumbledore thought there might be a shard of Voldemort in Harry's scar.

After knowing this, Harry locked himself in his room and refused to come out. When he finally spoke to someone through the door, it was because Sirius had come up to tell him that the Winchesters were there with something that could get rid of it.

He came out on the conditions that he would be just with his godfather and the Winchesters, who met them in an unused drawing room that Sirius had to use Scourgify on because of all the dust.

It was rather surreal. The brothers used all sorts of weird runes and rituals and divining methods, while Sirius told him about how, after Harry had started his self-imposed exile, Molly Weasley had literally thrown Dumbledore out and refused to grant him access again, going so far as changing the Floo password and forbidding anyone from giving him the new one. No one disagreed with her, partly because Mrs. Weasley could be rather terrifying and partly because everyone agreed with her.

You didn't mess around with soul magic like that.

The Winchesters eventually agreed that there was definitely something in Harry's scar, and told him that it would take a couple days to find the method for removal, which they needed complete privacy for, and probably shouldn't do it in the house. After some debate, Mr. Weasley obtained them a portkey to America.

Harry didn't get to enjoy his small vacation, and besides, it was freezing there.

While he was absolutely sure that no one had enchanted him, whatever the Winchesters had done removed any memories he had of the preceding twelve hours. Sam told him they'd called in a contact to come remove it, who had warned them in advance that it might mess with his mind, and showed him a written agreement to the procedure in what was definitely Harry's handwriting.

The brothers hadn't seen what happened [they'd been forced to leave the room] but they had told Harry he probably didn't want to remember what happened, as it had sounded fairly painful.

They didn't tell him anything about the contact they had called in.

[It would probably be a bad idea to tell anyone, much less Harry, that the soul shard had been removed by the fourth horseman, who in exchange had made them promise to track the rest of them down and bring them to him. It appeared that Death was just as bothered by Voldemort as they were, though less by the destruction he'd caused and more of the fact that he'd escaped Death. The Winchesters were just wondering where they were supposed to find the rest of them]

 

Hermione had given him a tearful hug when she'd seen Harry again, which turned into a giant dog pile as the rest of his friends tried to do the same. Then Mrs. Weasley had practically pulled them all off him and nearly suffocated Harry before insisting that he have something to eat.

She'd made treacle tart for dessert, and the entire night Harry felt warm and slightly tingly from happiness.

* * *

 

That happiness,, unfortunately, did not carry over to his return to Hogwarts.

The only thing standing in Umbridge's way of having her way with the school was the fact that Dumbledore was still Headmaster. And once he had left, Umbridge wasted no time in establishing herself as Headmistress.

Harry probably should have guessed that the DA would eventually be discovered. Sirius had even told them that they'd been overheard. Despite all this, they kept meeting.

[Meanwhile, in a dark, underground crypt, a flutter of wings was heard and Dean was left alone, the angel tablet vanished with his friend. Above ground, Sam and Meg faced Crowley, Meg armed with a stolen angel blade and Sam with Ruby's knife. Sam and Dean would make their getaway in the Impala as one of their most unlikely allies fell on her own blade. They spent the ride silent, trying to decide whether they felt guilty over her death or not.]

Harry's interview with the Quibbler went well, and the fact that Umbridge immediately banning it only made it more popular was well received. The detentions he got for it were not, but the fact that more and more people were starting to believe him about what had happened during the third task helped a little. The reformation of Dumbledore's Army doubly so. It was even more dangerous meeting in a castle that Umbridge now controlled, but that made it feel even better-and the participants had been progressing well on patronuses, so it would have been a shame to just stop.

[In a cave on the seaside, Sam and Dean argued about which one of them would go in with Dumbledore, who had taken only a week to find them. Neither of them trusted him as much as they once did, but there was no way around it. When Dean came out half-carrying the man and with a silver, ridiculously large locket in one hand, a little bit of that trust was restored.

It was probably a good thing that Dumbledore had been unconscious when Death came for the second soul shard.]

When the Weasley twins set off their new fireworks, it was the most entertainment anyone had had since Dumbledore escaped. The sight of Umbridge running around frantically, covered in soot, was funny to anyone with a sense of humor. The dictatorial air, though, was still present in the fact that they restrained their laughs to common rooms and other private places where it was impossible to be overheard.

[The third soul shard gave them the most trouble. Finding out that the third shard had been in a Gringotts vault was perhaps the worst surprise ever, but it turned out that when you gave the Goblins proof that you knew Death himself and a little persuasion, it was surprisingly easy to have something removed from another person's vault. Particularly if that person was a convicted criminal.]

Fred and George's escape from Hogwarts was the only event which outranked their previous pranks. The fireworks this time were even grander and harder to get rid of, and the swamp now filling the fifth-floor corridor was a touch of genius. It made Umbridge furious, and consequently Harry's broom [the only one remaining in her possession] was put under extra guard.

[When Sam and Dean looked back over the map that they'd used the tracking spell on, the next burned circle (which indicated another soul shard) was smack dab in the middle of nowhere. When they arrived, Cas appeared out of nowhere next to them, and frantically gestured at the shack. A rush of what felt like pressurized air nearly knocked the brothers off their feet, and when they recovered Castiel had vanished again. Whatever he'd done, it had removed the protections surrounding the ring that was hidden there, which Death seemed inordinately pleased to be given back. When he took it, however, her merely removed a small grey ghost thing which he crushed before giving the ring back to the Winchesters. "It's yours now," he said, and the brothers promptly locked it up and stowed it somewhere safe.]

Dumbledore's Army had progressed from Patronuses to more high-level spells by now, spells that some were still learning or that none of them knew yet, which meant Harry was learning right alongside them Cho had refused to attend the new lessons, since it was her friend who had turned them in originally. No one except those who knew her well missed her, since the majority blamed her for bringing Marietta in the first place.

* * *

 

[The fifth soul shard was, apparently in Hogwarts.]

Over the next few weeks, whispers started about how someone had been sneaking around the castle at night that Filch couldn't catch, and supposedly it wasn't a student at all, but the Winchesters. No one knew why they had come back, or what they were doing, but it became a popular source of discussion.

One day, when the DA met, they didn't enter their usual room but instead a room full of piles of different objects stacked in what could have been a maze. As more and more people arrived, they all stopped for a minute just inside the door, before seeing the rest of the club. When all thirty members had gathered, they were a small group heaped together like just one more pile in this room.

When the Winchesters came around a corner holding a black box and a duffle bag apiece, it was hard to say who was more surprised.

Sam and Dean, when they learned about what the group was doing there, had different reactions to the news of an illegal club. Dean laughed and congratulated them, while Sam looked more conflicted, as if he wasn't sure whether he should praise them for learning stuff on their own or chastise them for breaking the rules and risking expulsion. When asked what was in the box, they only said that they'd gotten what they came for.

[Death took this one for good, like the cup and the locket, and Sam was starting to wonder if they were inadvertently destroying pieces of magical history. The crown thing they'd found at Hogwarts had been a beautiful silver with a large blue gem surrounded by the wings of some sort of bird, and the cup they'd given him had definitely had a badger on it. Sam had taken a battered copy of 'Hogwarts, a History from the Room of Requirement, and when he read that section on the founders he decided it was probably a good thing that they hadn't shown any of the students what they'd found.]

When McGonagall was attacked, the whole school turned into a more somber version of itself. Umbridge cheered it as a victory, but even the Slytherins knew that McGonagall was a good teacher and well liked by pretty much everyone. Very few of them disliked her simply because she was the head of Gryffindor house. Even Snape wasn't judged because he was Head of Slytherin, he was judged because of his horrible teaching methods.

[Though Death had assured them that there was one more left, the map showed no more soul shards. Dean and Sam concluded that whatever that last one was, Voldemort had to be keeping it close to him, and must have had wards up around wherever he was hiding. Which meant, time to join the Order of the Phoenix]

* * *

 

It was mid-exam season when Harry got the letter.

It was written on fancy paper and contained nothing but a short, succinct message;

_Department of Mysteries_

_Come for your godfathers life_

It also contained a scrawled plea from Sirius to come quickly.

Harry, like the Gryffindor idiot he was, immediately tried to head off to the Ministry. Giving up attempts to convince him otherwise, Neville, Luna, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione came with him, Luna suggesting that thestrals were rather fast since they couldn't Floo.

It was disastrous.

Not only was it a trap, but Sirius wasn't even there.

And Harry had fallen for it hook, line, and sinker.

When the Order showed up, Harry nearly collapsed from relief. He thought that this battle could possibly end in a victory, when Bellatrix hit Sirius with a Stunning spell that sent him falling towards the arch.

NO!

And in that instant it was like time had frozen. No one moved, all spells appeared stuck in the air where they were, everything was silent.

Except for Harry, and the gaunt man dressed in black who had appeared between his godfather and the veil.

He stared at Harry, eyes burning, and though he didn't speak, a single word echoed through the dark room. Choose.

Not him, Harry pleaded mentally, somehow knowing that he wouldn't be able to speak. Not Sirius, please.

The man nodded once.

Time exploded into motion once more. Spells flew, someone screamed, and as Bellatrix Lestrange crumpled where she stood Sirius reacted as if he'd been pushed and was suddenly falling the other way, off of the pedestal and onto the ground. He sat up, disoriented, and Harry had no time to process what had happened before he was thrown back into the chaos of battle.

When he was chased into the Atrium of the Ministry by a furious Rodolphus, he got in a lucky shot and knocked the man unconscious.

It wasn't fast enough to stop him from calling Voldemort.

The only thing that saved Harry from a Killing Curse in the back was Dumbledore's timely arrival. The battle exploded, no longer a free-for-all but a duel, one with no rules or guidelines and just unbridled magic roiling in the air between the two.

Harry didn't know who would have won, if Voldemort had not Disapparated and Lestrange hurled himself through the Floo at the moment that Fudge and several other Ministry officials emerged from the fireplaces lined up along each edge of the huge room.

"He's back," said Fudge, sounding panicked. "Dear Merlin, he really is back."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy! Comments would be well appreciated.


	4. The Confirmation of Insanity - 2014

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will probably be the second-to-last chapter. I know it's short, but each chapter covers one year in pretty minimal detail and I'm only going up to second year.
> 
> A notice: This is where things start to get very AUish. Up to the end, HP stays fairly on track with cannon, though I've had to change some things per changes already made in previous chapters [for example, Dumbledore is fine because Sam and Dean already took care of Marvolo's ring]. Concerning Supernatural, however, I changed a lot of things, mainly to avoid making Dean take the mark. If anyone has questions concerning the timelines or what's going on in the Supernatural side of things, then feel free to send me a message or leave a question in your review!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own anything at all concerning Harry Potter or Supernatural, who belong entirely to their respective owners.

There was absolutely no denying it now.

Since Harry's third year, there had been a mass-murderer loose from Azkaban, a student had died in a Tournament and a Dark Lord come back to life, said Dark Lord's return had been covered up even when half of his most loyal followers had broken out of Azkaban, they'd invaded the Ministry and had a huge battle, yet there they were.

The Winchesters were still here.

If that didn't cement the fact that they were insane, Harry didn't know what would.

Still, something seemed off about them. Harry had come in late, because of his meeting with Malfoy on the train, but he'd looked up and seen it immediately. Neither of them had touched their food, instead talking to each other hurriedly and in whispers. Sam looked worn and pale, as if he'd recently recovered from a bad illness. Dean kept glancing at the doors, as if waiting for someone or wishing to leave.

In Harry's first class with them, only Dean was there. When someone asked where Sam was, he said that Sam was taking a couple days off and wouldn't be in class for a while. It was the first time anyone had ever gotten a solid answer about something unrelated to the class, and it kept all the students quiet in shock as Dean carried on with the lecture.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione immediately used their first study period to gather in the common room and try to figure out what had happened to Sam Winchester.

"Could it be whatever happened to his brother in fourth year?" Ron asked over his Potions assignment. "I mean, he was gone for an entire year."

"I doubt it," said Hermione, "Unless he got some watered down form of it, he wouldn't be here either."

"He looked like he'd been ill to me," put in Harry. "Like he was still getting over something."

"Maybe they've been hunting Voldemort all summer and got hit with some sort of curse," Ron improvised wildly.

"Don't be silly, Ron, they haven't been hunting Voldemort. Don't you remember? They came over to the Burrow once on Order business, and the Order hasn't been doing anything like that."

"They joined the Order?" Harry nearly scattered ink all over his essay. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I must have forgotten." Hermione scrawled a new sentence onto her parchment. "Honestly, it was only the one time, and we barely saw them. Everyone was closed off in the kitchen, like at where we stayed last summer." The Fidelius charm around Grimmauld Place prevented them from saying it aloud.

"Why would they join now, an not last year? Wouldn't Dumbledore have asked them?"

"Maybe he didn't trust them."

"Oh, come off it," scoffed Ron. "The only Defense teachers to last longer than a year, and he didn't immediately ask? Now that they've joined, we're probably five times as likely to win."

"You didn't buy into those rumors that they learned everything about creatures firsthand, did you?" Hermione asked dryly. "For Merlin's sake, Ron, we've been learning about demons and why you shouldn't summon one. There's no way they learned that firsthand. No sane wizard would go about summoning demons."

"Well where else would you learn about crossroads deals?" asked Harry. "It's not really something you can look up in the library."

"Harry! Don't tell me you believe it too!"

Whatever the truth was, the argument was never resolved, since no one brought it up again.

* * *

 

This year marked the first time since last year that neither of the Winchesters showed up to class one day. Instead of the brothers, a lined man with messy dark hair and day's worth of stubble taught for a week before they returned. He occasionally seemed unsure of what he was doing, and no one was sure whether Professor Castiel actually had a last name or not. No one ever saw him in the Great Hall during meals, and most began to think he was some sort of magical creature that didn't need food.

This was shot down faster than a speed spell, because if he was a creature there was no way the Winchesters would let him teach their class, and he could just get meals straight from the house-elves.

[What people didn't talk about was what the Winchesters were doing, though in that moment they had no way of knowing that the brothers were holed up in the bunker, doing their best to get any information they could out of Crowley. After Metatron's spell, they'd managed to activate whatever mechanism had stared during the Fall and discovered the approximate locations of where each angel had fallen. Kevin was still working on translating the tablet, and with Castiel's help the bunker was already filling up with rescued angels. Without the majority of their power, they were rather harmless and some were quite grateful for the rescue. Others had to be convinced.]

Though everyone agreed it was weird that he never came down, plenty of teachers didn't. Professor Trelawney, as far as most people knew, never left her tower, and it seemed like almost the same situation with Professor Castiel.

Even more odd, he didn't leave when the Winchesters returned. He stayed and took Sam's place, helping Dean and acting as an aide while Sam recovered. Even when the taller Winchester returned to teaching, he still stayed on.

No one knew why, but most assumed he just didn't have anywhere else to go.

[His brothers and sisters back in America probably wouldn't react well to his presence.]

How right they were, for perhaps the first time.

The Winchesters disappeared periodically, each time replaced by Castiel, and no one was every provided with an explanation of where they went or what they were doing.

One day, Castiel left with them.

[Kevin and the other angels had managed to rig up a system that would broadcast messages to every angel on Earth. Since they had all finally been convinced to work together (after a lot of shouting from the most senior one there) they were reasonably certain that they could get their siblings to team up with them and help try and reverse Metatron's spell.]

The class walked in, expecting to see Castiel at the head of the class since by now they had to have vanished again, only to see Professor Snape in the front of the classroom.

Every one of the Gryffindors paused in horror at the thought of having him for two classes that year.

When Sam and Den returned, they complained so much about the ridiculous homework he'd assigned and how unfair it was that they'd picked Snape of all people that no one noticed until later that Castiel hadn't come back with them.

[In an unknown location where an underground dungeon can be found, a bleeding and heavily injured Castiel tricks Theo into releasing him and steals his Grace, leaving his brother vulnerable on the floor and human.]

The next time they vanished, there was even less warning than usual, but this time their substitute was a portly man named Horace Slughorn. Apparently, he'd been asked to take the job solely to cover the Winchester's absences. He was constantly talking about his old students and how famous they were now and how he was really more suited to Potions than to Defense.

The students regarded him with a strange mix of emotion between dislike and 'yeah that's my teacher he's kind of weird let's go the other way'.

* * *

 

It was nearing Christmas break, and the Winchesters had spent about half of their time actually teaching. It was becoming so commonplace that no one actually questioned where they went anymore.

That is, until the next time they returned, when they resumed teaching with Dean's left arm in a sling and Sam with a fading black eye, and both of them moved gingerly around the classroom. At this point a betting pool had been started on where they went during their 'vacations', ranging from 'fighting Death Eaters' to 'breaking and entering to steal old artifacts' to one submission that read only 'who the fuck knows'.

Admittedly, that last one did end up winning when the betting pool was called off for lasting too long.

[Two weeks ago, the Winchesters had been looking for a group of angels who wanted sanctuary when said angels ambushed them, angel blades blazing. Castiel and two of his brothers, who had accompanied them, were the only reason that they had made it out of there without more significant injuries. Bobby called them idjits and then let Dean hang out on the sofa doing minimal research while his arm healed. Castiel told them that a new faction had formed, one led by Bartholomew, which mainly consisted of angels who refused to join Castiel out of pride]

* * *

 

When Katie Bell ended up in the hospital wing because of a cursed necklace, the Winchesters arrived minutes after they'd been contacted, Castiel in tow. The man ran a hand over her, while the Winchesters talked in low voices. He joined the conversation and muttered something, at which point all three left after telling Madam Pomfrey "She'll be fine now, just keep her comfortable while she's out."

Snape, who had examined the necklace, cast several spells on a sleeping Katie and told Dumbledore that the effects of the curse had somehow been removed from her system, and he could detect barely any damage.

Hermione finally convinced Harry to ask the Winchesters about the handwriting in his book, which he immediately regretted. Not only did they keep his potions book for about a month, but also when they returned it any spells had been mysteriously smudged and all that he could still read was the tips on making potions.

When he told Hermione this, she looked unsure whether to be vindicated in the sense that she'd [apparently] been right about the spells, or upset that they hadn't done anything about Harry following the written advice. Harry still thought Hermione was just jealous that he was doing better than her for once.

When Harry started taking lessons from Dumbledore, he was expecting spells and survival strategies. Not analyzing Voldemort and learning about his childhood.

Harry wondered why Dumbledore never tried to tell anyone that Voldemort's father had been a Muggle. He had all the proof right there, and it could have destroyed a huge chunk of Voldemort's support system.

As Harry got older, the less he blindly trusted Dumbledore.

He started taking self-defense lessons with Sam again, because they'd be a hell of a lot more useful now than they were during the Tournament. He almost wasn't surprised when Sam started teaching him how to win a sword fight.

The short silver sword he'd been given, once he was deemed well trained enough not to accidentally kill someone with it, made itself a permanent home in a secret pocket of his trunk.

When Ron was nearly fatally poisoned, Harry was beginning to suspect that something fishy was going on. Two objects, the necklace and the wine, were meant to be presents for someone, and both had nearly killed someone. He remembered a bit of the conversation from when he'd eavesdropped on Malfoy on the train, and how the blond Slytherin had yanked his left arm away from Madam Malkin when she went to roll up the sleeve.

Oh.

Things were starting to fall into place.

After confiding his suspicions to the Winchesters [because Hermione and Ron had already made it clear that they didn't believe him] the brothers told him they'd check it out. They gave him a phone, which Harry was surprised worked, but Sam just laughed when he asked about it and told him whatever had been put up to prevent electricity working, it was probably meant for things like radios and other electrical appliances, and as long as a device had been EMP hardened it would work fine.

Harry wasn't sure what EMP hardening was, but he took the phone. It took him a week to figure out how the sleek black rectangle worked, and he discovered that the only contacts listed were 'Sam', 'Dean', and "The Bunker'.

He didn't ask what the Bunker was, because by now he knew that he'd never get a straight answer.

He later thought of Dobby and called the small elf, asking him to keep an eye on Malfoy and tell him if he did anything suspicious.

Dobby set himself to the task with enthusiasm. Maybe a little too much enthusiasm, but Harry was just glad to have someone on his side watching Malfoy.

* * *

 

It seemed like the year sped by, and then screeched to a halt on an otherwise unremarkable day.

Dobby had popped into Gryffindor tower and practically squeaked that Malfoy had gone into the Room of Requirement and Death Eaters were coming out.

It took approximately three seconds for Harry to take charge.

The younger years were kept all in one dorm, the highest one, with a couple fifth years to guard them. Two other fifth years, who had volunteered, we sent out to warn the Winchesters and McGonagall. A couple sixth years who had friends in Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw were told to go and warn them, with seventh years accompanying them. One seventh year, who volunteered when Harry asked if anyone knew how to seal a door shut, was told the location of the door to the Slytherin common room and told to go seal it shut.

They had no way of knowing how many of the Slytherins would ally with the invaders.

Harry waited with his friends - all five who had accompanied him to the Ministry the year before - and divided the Felix Felicis he'd won amongst them, handing it out and quickly darting into the hallway so that no one realized that he hadn't taken any.

By the time everyone possible and willing was out in the halls, Hogwarts was flooded with Death Eaters.

Harry had been worried they'd be outnumbered, but the two opposing forces were fairly evenly matched. Considering that the Death Eaters hadn't expected anyone to be given a warning, they'd really sent more than they needed.

It was like last year in the Department of Mysteries. Spells flying, people dodging and ducking. The main difference was that on several occasions, Harry stood up to fire a spell in retaliation only to hear a series of bangs that deafened everyone in the room and left several Death Eaters crumpled to the ground, bleeding from fatal wounds and the Winchesters leaping over bodies to get to the center of the fight.

Sam and Dean Winchester fighting was honestly one of the scariest things Harry had ever seen.

He and Luna once ended up next to each other, her wielding a blade identical to the one he'd been given. She stopped in the middle of the fight to whisper, "You do have to use it, you know. The Death Eaters are too blinded by Nargles to be able to do any better."

Harry swallowed thickly and took his out of his pocket. Only minutes later, he tried not to look back at the man who he'd left bleeding out on the ground.

The center of the fight had moved to the seventh floor, near the stairs up to the Astronomy tower. Whatever the Death Eaters were doing up there, they didn't want to be bothered, because they had erected some sort of shield that prevented anyone without a Dark mark from going up the stairs.

It was nearly half an hour later before Dumbledore arrived and took down the ward with ease. The Winchesters sprinted up the stairs before he could do anything, and the echoing bangs of the Muggle guns they carried told everyone exactly what had happened.

Supposedly, after all was said and done, Dumbledore told them that their services would not be required next year. The official reasons were that the students might be afraid of them, but Dean and Sam both agreed that the old man was so against killing anyone, no matter what they'd done, he fired them purely on that principle.

Harry was starting to agree with them.

The problem was, the Order of the Phoenix only reacted. There were no preemptive strikes against the Death Eaters, no system in place to try and stop their attacks in the first place. Harry spent his summer reading war strategy and then used Sirius's extensive knowledge of Floo addresses to call Hermione, Ron and the other Weasleys, and every single other overage member of Dumbledore's Army.

It was really time that they took the fight to Voldemort.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here we are! Like I said, pretty AU. Dumbledore's Army really should have played a more integral part! Or at least I thought so. I was thinking that anyone over seventeen would be allowed to fight, and fifteen and up could help out in other ways. Harry's not going to let anyone under fifteen join, because come on. They're kids. Anyway, reviews are my life and will encourage me to post chapter five sooner!
> 
> The comments box is right down there, please let me know what you think!


	5. The War Begins - 2015

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> !

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we are, Chapter Five! This is the longest one so far [5,300 words!] so I hope you'll all forgive me for the amount of time it took to post! Here in the SPNverse I'm not really sure what I've had going on, but basically Castiel and the rest of the gang are taking care of the Fall back in America while Sam and Dean help out with the wizard's civil war. In the HPverse it's gotten very AU, and I don't have time to explain it here so you may feel free to leave reviews with any questions! Please review though, I'd love to know what you think! There will be one more chapter after this, so don't think it's over yet!

Harry began his plans for the summer with strategies and backup plans. Sam and Dean began theirs by tracking down then British branch of the Men of Letters.

Sure, Abbadon had killed off everyone in the American branch, but she'd followed Henry to the future before continuing on with the rest of them. And as each branch tended to be rather secretive, and no demons had been able to make their way into any other branches, the rest of the international Men of Letters remained operational.

That didn't mean that the Winchesters knew where they were.

It took Cas, several rituals and three hours of searching through British phonebooks before they pinned down the location. Standing in front of the door of what looked like a dilapidated cabin in the middle of nowhere, it was completely unremarkable except for the doorbell, which looked a bit odd on what appeared to be a log cabin.

Dean pressed it.

The little speaker underneath it buzzed to life after a matter of seconds. "Who's there?"

"We're looking for the Men of Letters," said Dean confidently.

The voice on the other end took a minute to respond. "I'm afraid I don't know anyone here who belongs to that group."

"Look, cut the act, joker, we know your base is-"

"I'm afraid you'll have to leave."

"Wait-" Sam cut in. "Please, just hear us out. My name is Sam Winchester and this is-"

"Winchester?" The voice sounded alarmed. "Did you just say Winchester? Oh my goodness." The speaker cut of with a crackle, and the door was wrenched open by a man who couldn't be older than twenty. "I didn't know it was you! Come in!"

Utterly perplexed, and very firmly on guard, Sam and Dean followed.

This bunker wasn't nearly as full as theirs, but the multitude of angels the Winchesters had rescued had to be taken into account. The narrow doorway leading into the main control center had a devil's trap painted on both the ceiling and floor, and a repeat on the other side of the doorframe. The other two men occupying the room stood up warily as the three entered.

"Who're they?" One of them asked, a hand on the gun, which had been left on the table.

"The Winchesters!"

"And you're sure of that?" the other one asked sarcastically, though their expressions changed from outright distrust to wariness and grudging respect. His friend took out a jug that had been left under the table, the clear plastic showing a rosary at the bottom.

"If you're really the Winchesters," he said, tossing Sam the bottle. "Then you won't mind taking a swig of that."

Sam took a careful sip and handed it to Dean, who wiped off the rim before doing the same. "See?" Dean said, disgruntled. "We ain't demons."

The three men were still regarding them carefully, though one of them sank back into his seat. "Well," said the tallest. "I don't know what the Winchesters want with the Men of Letters, or how you found out, but I suppose you're welcome." He let out a long whistle of breath. "Goddamn. The Winchesters in our bunker."

Sam and Dean exchanged looks. "Look," Sam said slowly. "I think we're missing something here. How exactly do you know about us?"

The one who had answered the door laughed. "That's an easy one. How about we sit down and explain, though?" He offered his hand. "I'm Brian. This is Arthur-" he pointed to the one sitting down, "And Jack." The third man nodded.

"I'd introduce myself, but it doesn't seem necessary," said Dean, accepting Brian's hand. "So you feel like explaining how you know us yet?"

Arthur laughed. "Every hunter knows about the Winchesters. Doesn't matter if you're American or not, you've heard of them. You guys are the best there are, and supposedly deal with shit the rest of us wouldn't touch with a devil's trap and Colt's gun. We noticed your trip over a while back, though I've no clue why you'd dig up the bones and them hand 'em over to a stranger in a suit."

Dean smirked, while Sam looked a little embarrassed. "The bones were collateral," Dean said dryly. "And it's none of your business. But we didn't come for a social call."

"No?" All three men straightened a little at that.

Dean tossed a roll of paper onto the table, which unfurled to reveal a map of England. "You ever hear of a dude called Voldemort?"

* * *

 

Sometimes Harry thought he could see that man again, the one from the Department of Mysteries. Always just out of the corner of his eye, and he disappeared whenever Harry swung around to get a better look. He seemed impatient, as if he was waiting for something to happen that was taking too long.

When the Order came to retrieve him from Sirius's house and told him their new plan, he almost refused. There was no way he would let people risk themselves like that, being disguised as him. But Hermione yanked the hairs out for him, and the flask of polyjuice was passed around anyway.

The Death Eaters surrounded them as soon as they got in the air.

When Harry and Hagrid finally made it to the Burrow, Mrs. Weasley gave him a tearful hug and Ginny watched the sky in hope of more arrivals.

They were supposed to be the third ones there. They were the first.

Mad-Eye died, and Fred lost his left ear. The Order gave thanks that it wasn't worse, while Harry tried to shove away the feeling of guilt he got whenever he looked at Fred.

He swore he'd leave right after his birthday, but his plans were pushed back by a wedding. Apparently, Bill and Fleur were getting married.

Harry did try to enjoy himself, but when a Patronus comes halfway through the dance saying that the Ministry's been taken over and Dumbledore was missing, a cheerful mood can be hard to hold on to.

[All the time he'd spent organizing the DA to get back together once they were at Hogwarts were laid to waste; he and Ron were just lucky Hermione had everything they needed in her bag. Thank Merlin for Undetectable Extension Charms. ]

Grimmauld Place was still there and under the Fidelius, but no one else was in the house and even Kreacher was nowhere to be found. None of the three were really bothered by this, as no one liked the old elf and it wasn't like he'd ever done anything useful.

[Meanwhile, Sam and Dean were regretting having ever taken the old elf to the bunker. Even their British counterparts were annoyed by him. Why hadn't Sirius ever gotten rid of Kreacher?

Harry, of course, knew none of this

He also didn't know about how half of the British Men of Letters had been mobilized to help look for Voldemort, though the Winchesters too were currently unaware of the effect to which their presence had had. After all, when the man in charge of the organization is an ancient wandmaker who's only a little less than omnipotent, the organization in general respects the people he tells them to.

Ollivander had always kept in contact with his Muggle side, after all.]

* * *

 

When Harry, Ron, and Hermione finally left Grimmauld place, they were thoroughly sick of it. A message had come, sent by one of the seventh years Harry had contacted, that they had set up shop in the Forest of Dean. None of the DA had dared to risk going back to Hogwarts, and messages sent through the coins Hermione had enchanted had allowed them all to organize.

Those who could legally perform magic had taken a bunch of old tents, linked them together, and extended them as well, creating a vast system that looked like one overly large tent from the outside. The area had been warded to hell and back, so that the trio had to be escorted in by one of the members who was already there.

Hermione was suitably impressed, Harry was a little surprised that they'd done this on their own, and Ron was just glad they had a decent stock of food.

One of the Muggleborns, using whatever magic had been untilized to make wizarding radios, had created a radio and walkie-talkie set that they used whenever someone had to venture outside of the wards, which was almost never unless they needed food. Hermione had set up a system that allowed them to visit different towns for food, making sure that they never visited the same place twice in a row or too close together, otherwise the owner might get suspicious and upgrade his security. When asked why it mattered, Hermione and a couple other Muggleborns were forced to explain the types of security Muggles had that would allow police ["Muggle aurors," Hermione said exasperatedly after being asked for the third time what they were] to be upon them almost as quickly as wizards could get there.

The pureblooded and other wizard-raised members scoffed at this, but after a near miss in Staunton most concluded that perhaps Muggles could do more than they gave them credit for. Harry, Hermione, and Ron were constantly huddled in groups, discussing what they had to do about Voldemort when none of them knew what they were capable of doing. They all agreed that the lives of the other members of the DA weren't to be put at risk, but there was only so much they could do. Hiding behind wards with occasional trips for food would only do so much

The Men of Letters hadn't been having much more success. Wherever the last soul shard was, it was behind heavy wards. jack had suggested that whatever it was, Voldemort must have been carrying it around with him, or he'd found out about the destruction of the other six and put it under heavy guard.

* * *

 

"Hey," called Brian from his seat at the radar. "Is something wrong with the radar?" The radar was a machine which connected to an old satellite the Men had bought years ago. They used it to keep track of the goings-on in a twenty-mile radius of their headquarters. Never let it be said that a Man of Letters was not paranoid. It wasn't really called a radar, but no one could pronounce its actual name in a time-sensitive manner so they all called it 'the radar'.

"No," said Jack, glancing up. "Not as far as I've seen. Has something happened?"

"There's a big blank spot about ten miles from here, towards Sparrow's End near the trail up here," Brian told him, swiveling around in his chair to give his friend a better look. "See, just fuzzes out."

"What?" Jack got up to take a closer look. "That's ridiculous, the machine's working fine, I checked it this morning."

"I know," agreed Brian. They glanced away from the radar and at each other.

"Ask the Winchesters?"

"Yeah. Hell if I know what's wrong."

* * *

 

"So everything works except for this one patch?" Sam was frowning at the radar, tapping the screen. "And you're sure it's nothing on the actual machine?"

"Yes," Jack told him, "we're absolutely sure, I checked it this morning."

"Alright, what do you think?" Sam addressed the question to Dean, who was standing at the table behind him.

"Could be wizards," Dean suggested. "Hiding out in the woods, throw up some wards, far as I can tell no on gets in without their say-so."

"Really?" said Arthur, fascinated. He was the newest member and therefore the only one who hadn't already known about the Wizarding world, and was freshly amazed every time he learned something about them.

"Don't get too excited, we don't know which side they're rooting for," said Dean, frowning. "But I doubt supporters of this guy would be hiding out in the middle of nowhere."

"So who could it be?" mused Sam.

"Isn't that Harry kid wanted for something?"

"I doubt he's a criminal."

"Well, yeah, but didn't this dude kill his parents and then die trying to kill him? Gotta want revenge after that."

"So you think Harry set this up?"

"Hell no. I think he brought his friends and Hermione whatever put up the wards for them. No offense to them, but she's the only one who seems like she'd know how to do that."

"How do you know them so well?" asked Jack, who looked a bit lost.

"We taught at the British magic school for a while," Sam explained. Arthur looked thrilled.

"You have magic?"

"No!" Arthur deflated a bit. "I'm not sure why we were hired, especially considering the bias against non-magicals, but no one ever really questioned it." Sam shrugged. "We got fired a couple years ago but after the one who fired us got kicked out we were asked back, and then left again when You-Know-Who took over."

Sam had had to explain the whole You-Know-Who thing to the Men of Letters at first. Dean just rolled his eyes, but Sam kept insisting that names had power, and old ancient kind and there was no way that Voldemort would ignore that opportunity if he saw it, so no one called him by his name.

It turned out to be a good idea, not that they ever got the chance to find out why.

* * *

 

"I hate hiking," Dean grumbled as they trudged along an animal-made trail through the Forest of Dean. The blank spot on the radar was nearly ten miles out, and they'd been walking for several hours already. "How long is this gonna take? It's miserable out."

"We're almost there," said Brian, peering at a GPS. "It shouldn't be more than ten minutes away."

"Are we sure this is the right area?" Sam peered through the mist and fog trailing through the branches and trunks of trees. "It could be easy to miss in this weather."

"I'm sure. This thing is- whoa!" The GPS had apprubtly fizzed out, filling the screen with static and losing their place. Brian smacked it "Piece of-"

"Wait!" Sam said. "We must be getting near the wards- the magic in the air would mess with the electronics."

Jack checked his watch, which sure enough had blinked out and was showing a blank screen. "Oh, hell. This was brand-new!"

"So do they know we're here?" Dean asked, glancing around. "If they're able to tell when someone breaks through the wards, they could come out and check and we wouldn't be able to see them from farther then maybe five feet? We're sitting ducks if someone gets a little to antsy with their wand."

"Dean, weren't you the one who said it was probably Harry?" Arthur reminded him.

"Well, yeah, but it-"

"Sshhh!" Sam threw a hand out. "I heard something!"

All five of them immediately quieted, barely daring to breathe for fear of missing something in the quiet environment- a cough, a rustle of feet on leaves that would give them a sign of their being watched.

There.

Leaves were stirred as someone-lots of someones- rushed around them, the five Men of Letters turning and unsheathing weapons to protect themselves, robe corners flying as their owners duck behind trees closer to the group of five and for a moment both groups were frozen, neither sure of the alliances of the other and both unwilling to approach an unknown target.

"Great," Dean muttered to himself. "Either they're scaredy-cats or it's an ambush."

His words were overlapped by a slow step, crunching loudly over fallen foliage as someone approached through the fog. People seemed to advance from all sides, robed and faces covered with wands held out steadily before them. The men held their weapons out, guns and pistols and at least three of them had their hands to knives sheathed by their belts.

It would have become even tenser, if a woman had not stepped forward from the ring surrounding them.

"Professor Winchester?" she asked incredulously.

* * *

 

The three Men of Letters were suitably impressed by the setup of Dumbledore's Army, and Hermione sniffed when she'd been told that, officially, they were a men's only agency. Harry could practically hear her mind whirring with plans to oppose that particular policy, even when she knew nothing about them.

Finding the Winchesters of all people stumbling their way into the wizard's camp really shouldn't have been surprising at this point, considering all that they'd seen the brothers do. Sam and Dean looked to be barely holding in their feelings on the topic of the camp, mainly the fact that in the Muggle world not a single one of them was of age. Even in the Wizarding world, only about a third of them were seventeen.

When offered a place in the Men of Letters bunker, the members as a whole eagerly jumped on the offer, most of them sick and tired of camping and wishing for a hot shower or someplace equally safe. They all agreed that the camp would be brought down and they would all make their way to the bunker and re-set up there. Hermione expressed concerns for their electronic equipment, but Sam assured her that as long as the boundaries of the wards were far enough away, the machines should be alright.

The three-hour hike back to the bunker nearly discouraged some people, and those who weren't were when they saw the log cabin the organization operated out of. None of them thought of the fact that Muggles could have a way of making something bigger on the inside- not literally, perhaps, but the idea of it all being underground hadn't even occured to some of the wizards.

It only proved a long-standing point some historians made about how, when magic is easily and readily at hand, the mundane and far simpler solutions often do not occur to the average wizard.

Sam and Dean discreetly pulled Harry aside as soon as they could and explained the soul shard situation to him quickly. It seemed only fair, considering he'd had one in his head. When they told him that the last one was either under heavy guard or with Voldemort, Harry took a few seconds thinking before saying "Well, me having one proves that it can be a living thing, right? So it's probably his snake. If he knows the others have been destroyed, he'll be keeping it close. You have killed the other ones, right?"

"They're taken care of."

* * *

 

Harry never thought he'd see Hogwarts like this.

The once-proud castle was full of the sounds of fighting and spells clashing, rebounding and striking people and walls and there was rubble everywhere, strewn on the ground and there were other objects there too, lying haphazardly and forgotten but he couldn't pay attention to those because Harry knew if he looked he might see a familiar face and he needed to concentrate in this battle because everyone was depending on him.

Voldemort had issued a challenge-come and meet him in the Forbidden Forest, in an hour, or the battle continues and the Light is wiped out.

Harry would have snorted at the phrase 'Light' if a sense of humor had any place in a war. How quaint. But this was not 'Light' and 'Dark'. This was war. No one was 'Light' here.

Harry slowed as he neared the entrance hall, taking time to pull out his cloak and drape it over himself. If someone saw him leaving, they'd know what he was doing and try to stop him. But Harry was determined- no one else was going to die for him. Not now, not ever.

The sight of Oliver Wood carrying Colin Creevey in over his shoulder nearly broke his heart.

Sam and Dean were standing on either side of the door, on the outside, warily watching the woods. Neither of them was facing him, so it came as a surprise when Dean whirled around and pulled the cloak off him. Sam jerked, startled by his brother's movement and Harry's sudden appearance.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" demanded Dean. "Shouldn't you be inside?" Harry was too startled to answer, instead snatching his cloak back and looking away.

He heard Sam inhale sharply. "You're not thinking of going to him."

"What?" He heard Dean answer. "No! Why would he-you're not. Kid, look at me."

He looked back, seeing Dean meet his gaze with an intense stare.

"You are not throwing your life away," he said firmly, "For the sake of your friends."

"No," Harry responded evenly. "I'm doing it because it's the right thing to do." Sam's words from fourth year echoed back to him; Sometimes the right thing to do is also the stupid thing.

"Harry, please," Sam said softly, but he looked straight at both of them and they must have seen something he was unconsciously conveying, because Dean shook his head and turned away, while Sam just stepped aside and left him a path to the forest.

"You won't say?" Harry asked, turning as he passed them. "Not until I'm gone." Dean pressed his lips together and frowned fiercely; Sam looked pained, but gave him a shallow nod.

The Dementors were lying on the ground as Harry walked by them into the first layer of the forest. He didn't need to ask to know that the Winchesters had done something, but he was glad for the absence of cold and fear as he walked further in. And strangely enough, he wasn't afraid. Just numb, like nervousness to a point where he couldn't tell what it was anymore.

Hagrid was there when he saw the clearing the Death Eaters had sheltered in, tied to a tree. He pleaded and begged Harry not to do this, and Harry closed his eyes as green sped towards him to avoid seeing the look on Hagrid's face.

He was sorry one of his oldest friends had to be there to witness it.

The whiteness when he opened his eyes was blinding.

He was wearing nothing when he woke up, though a thought had a robe ready and waiting for him. Harry was almost undisturbed by the fact that they simply floated in midair, waiting for him to put them on. He seemed to naturally know that that was how this place worked.

"I see you've arrived."

Harry spun around. The man was there again-the one who had appeared in the corner of his vision all year, and saved Sirius in the Department of Mysteries. Instead of looking impatient or simply bored, now he almost looked interested.

"I've been waiting quite a while," he said. "You have no idea how degrading it is waiting for a child to grow up and do what he has to. It was quite aggravating, and I don't suppose it will get any better. If it had to be any of you protozoa, I suppose you aren't quite the worst."

"What are you talking about?" Harry demanded, becoming riled up and worried at the implication that this man had been watching him his entire life. "Who are you?"

"I suppose you wouldn't remember," the man mused. "I was the one who removed the Horcrux, the soul-shard from your scar." He stood fluidly, a kind of aura around him that assured Harry that this man was not human. "Though I more commonly go by another name."

"And what's that name?" Harry asked, watching the man closely.

"Tell me," the man said idly, ignoring Harry's question-it was impossible for him to not have heard it, they were barely a foot apart-"Have you ever heard the Tales of Beedle the Bard?"

"I-" The question caught Harry off guard. "Isn't that the book Dumbledore left Hermione?"

"Hm." The man regarded him with a flat stare. "How unfortunate. Still, it does not matter. I am able to give you the bare details."

"What are you-"

"The story goes something like this," the man said. "Three brothers created a bridge to get over a raging stream. I appeared to them, for reasons my own, and to spite them pretended to congratulate them and gave them three gifts, one each. The first asked for an invincible wand, and so I made him one. The second asked for something to bring back the dead, and so I gave him a stone capable of such a feat. The third asked for something I could not follow him in, and so I gave him my cloak of invisibility-not merely something woven of demiguise hair or any such creation, but a true cloak, one that could withstand the ages. All three eventually died of course, the first two in what you would call tragedies of their own making, but the third lived a long and fulfilling life."

Harry was unsure what to say with the proclamation that this man had been in a story-and what sounded like a rather dark one, too. "What does this have to do with anything?"

"You're not very observant, are you?" the man regarded him with dark eyes. "A true cloak of invisibility-do you not have one quite like that, on your person as you died?"

The word died seemed to echo a bit, resounding off nonexistent walls in the white space.

"You're saying I have the cloak from the story?" Harry got out. "What does that mean? Why is it important?"

"The stone and the wand both exist," said the man, speaking over him again. "The wand in currently in the possession of Lord Voldemort."

Harry's insides turned to ice. "What?" he said numbly. "But- does that mean he's-"

"No," said the man irritably. "Must I guide you through all of the steps? If you must be informed, Dumbledore possessed the wand before him, and who took it from him?"

The name that nearly escaped Harry's lips was Snape, but then he remembered- he had been there, when Snape killed Dumbledore, it had been one of the first battles that the DA fought in- and Draco Malfoy had disarmed the old headmaster before Snape had killed him.

"Malfoy?" he asked incredulously, wondering how in Merlin's name Malfoy of all people deserved ending up with that wand.

The man rolled his eyes. "Dear me, is it really that hard? You fought him moments ago, in your time."

Harry's mind stopped as the memory replayed in his mind's eye, him meeting Malfoy and exchanging spell for spell, until-

"I Disarmed him," Harry whispered. "Voldemort has the wand, but it answers to me, doesn't it?"

"Good," said the man reluctantly. "You finally understand. I hate this process. Now understand, you have the cloak, you shall win possession of the wand, and I'm sure if you ask nicely the Winchesters will give you the ring I gave to them for ... safekeeping." The last word seemed to trail out of his mouth, not easily let go. "Why I created these in the first place, I should have killed those brothers on the spot... but all is said and done now and there's no helping it. Remember, boy...cloak, wand, ring."

Harry had no time to ask questions before the whiteness was sucked away and he was falling, through what looked like sky and then leaves and brown were rushing past him before he jolted awake in his own body, breath hissing in quietly.

* * *

 

Cloak, wand, ring.

Cloak, wand, ring.

Cloak, wand, ring.

Cloak, wand, ring.

Cloak, wand, ring.

Cloak, wand, ring.

Cloak, wand, ring.

Cloak, wand, ring.

Cloak, wand, ring.

The words had been incessantly repeating in his head ever since he'd woken up.

Cloak, wand, ring.

Cloak, wand, ring.

Cloak, wand, ring.

They acted almost as a melody, and he was sure without it he'd never have been able feign death as accurately as he had while Voldemort commanded he be carried up to the castle.

A lucky thing Narcissa Malfoy cared more for her son than she did for her Lord.

Cloak, wand, ring.

Cloak, wand, ring.

Cloak, wand, ring.

Neville cleaved the head off Nagini, Voldemort screamed, and the spell was broken as the centaurs launched arrows at the Death Eater's western flank and both armies charged back into Hogwarts, house elves hacking at ankles and in the Great Hall Voldemort was duelling three teachers at once before Harry shielded them with a cry of 'Protego!' and pulled the Invisibility cloak off of himself, standing directly across from the enemy that had plagued him since Year One.

Cloak, wand, ring.

Cloak, wand, ring.

Cloak, wand, ring.

He and Voldemort circled each other, exchanging words that Harry barely remembered later and when a bang echoed across the Hall and the smell of gunpowder permeated the air it didn't matter that the Winchesters were standing in the doorway and watching Voldemort fall or that they succeeded where he hadn't, prophecy notwithstanding, because the Elder Wand-and how did he know its name?-was rolling across the floor to him and when Harry picked it up a surge of something coursed through him and no one noticed because they were too busy cheering, and Voldemort was lying on the floor, his corpse feeble and shrunken in death and crimson blood soaking across the floor.

Cloak, wand, ring.

Cloak, wand, ring.

Cloak, wand, ring.

The ring he would ask for later, when the Winchesters were not so busy avoiding their fans-news that they were the ones to kill Voldemort had spread quickly, as the Dark Lord's influence on the country was drained and vanished-and in the meantime he fell asleep, and when he woke up he asked Hermione to borrow her copy of the Tales of Beedle the Bard. She let him, without asking why, and when Harry read the whole story he barely felt the shock of learning who he'd really met filter through his system because it was finally over.

Cloak, wand, ring.

Cloak, wand, ring.

Cloak, wand, ring.

When he had had enough time to recover, Harry would question exactly why Death wanted him to have those items, but in the moment he continued using his holly and phoenix feather wand and refused to tell anyone what he'd done with Voldemort's.

Voldemort's real wand, the one that was brother to Harry's, had been burned as soon as it was recovered and recognized. The Elder Wand sat in Harry's bedside drawer.

Everyone who had fought in the Battle of Hogwarts was awarded the Order of Merlin, First Class, and Kingsley Shacklebolt had been instated as Minister for Magic, but Harry paid attention to none of it and instead tried to give himself what he'd always wanted; a quiet life.

Cloak, wand, ring.

Cloak, wand, ring.

Cloak, wand, ring.

Cloak, wand, ring.

Cloak, wand, ring.

Cloak, wand, ring.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And...cut! Remember to keep an eye out for chapter six, everyone, and then it'll be complete! PLEASE read and review, it would make me so thrilled to hear from you guys! *points to review button* You know you want to.
> 
> Also, to anyone confused, Dumbledore did survive sixth year, but was later killed by Snape in a scenario similar to that as soon as Voldemort realized he had the Elder Wand. Snape killed him before Voldemort could arrive, and so Voldemort killed Snape to win the wand's loyalty by defeating its master-except, as we know, it was Malfoy it owed its allegiance to. This all happened sometime in August, before school started, and most people left once Rodolphus Lestrange was declared Headmaster. Most of the teachers ran, too, since none of them would be willing to put up with that.


	6. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we are, Chapter six! This was done very quickly, and it's not very long, but I hope you all enjoy it anyways. It's only meant to be a short sort of epilogue, anyways, and now the story is officially done! I might do a sequel, but for now this is it.

Cloak, wand, ring.

Cloak, wand, ring.

* * *

 

Harry had spent a year living quietly before he gave up.

His first letter to the Winchesters in a year he sent by owl, since he had no way of knowing where they were even though they probably wouldn't appreciate the method. He asked about the ring and they sent back a message asking why.

They also included a method for contact in person.

America was warmer than the last time he'd visited, especially considering it was now mid-July. He waited by the bus station-he didn't know how to drive and couldn't rent a car-and when a sleek black car drove by and Dean rolled down the window, he thought that he should have expected them to have something this flashy.

'The Bunker', which must have been the same one listed in the phone they'd given him years ago, was a slightly rundown place, mostly underground, which looked like it had come out of a 1950s era James Bond movie. Harry wondered why it looked so much older than the one they'd stayed in in Britain, but he didn't voice the question.

He couldn't explain why he needed the ring. Even if the Winchesters were the most likely people to actually believe him, it felt personal in a way that he couldn't explain-like some sort of sixth sense was telling him that it wasn't their business.

Sam and Dean reluctantly accepted the explanation. The three of them had ended up with a sort of mutual trust, even though they barely saw each other. The brothers had left England very quickly after the explanation of just how Voldemort had been defeated spread-luckily, the story never really left Britain. It would have been incredibly frustrating to have to duck wizards wanting to thank them all over the place. The last thing the Winchesters needed was another fan base.

The ring was deep in storage, and Harry nearly got lost in the maze of filing cabinets and shelves full of boxes before they got to a hidden door which, when opened, revealed a room full of talismans and curse boxes. The one the Winchesters pulled out was covered in runes and symbols and even chained shut, but a simple unlocking charm took care of that [they had forgotten to bring the key] and it was only then that Harry realized he'd brought the Elder Wand instead of his old one.

The ring was a simple one, a gold band holding a black, sharply cut stone in place. When he picked it up, Harry thought he saw the silver sign of the Deathly Hallows flashing at him from inside it.

Nothing happened when he held it. There was no reaction of magic, no strange wind, nothing at all. It was as if he'd picked up any ordinary ring. Death had put so much emphasis onto Harry having these three items, and even with the wand in one hand, the ring in the other, and the cloak in his bag no reaction of any sort had taken place.

It was only after he'd left the confused Winchesters behind that he realized something he'd forgotten about the story-there was no ring, it was the stone that was important.

He wasn't sure what happened next.

* * *

 

Hermione and Ron never got together. They both accepted that they were better off just friends, and Hermione still came round to the Weasley's every year for Christmas and other family events. Harry did too, and the three of them celebrated the fact that they were getting on with their lives and enjoying themselves, without any sort of catastrophe every year.

Hermione had stayed in contact with Viktor Krum this whole time, excluding last year, and they eventually got together. Ginny had dated Dean Thomas for three years and they showed no sign of stopping. Ron met a Muggleborn witch named Petra and fell in love.

Everyone seemed to be hooking up or getting married, and Harry felt like his friends were becoming something separate. Sure, they still met for outings and had fun together, but Ron brought Petra with him half the time and Hermione was making plans to stay with Viktor for a year, and Harry had visions of being on his own in Britain.

Luna had cornered him at a party once, some sort of gala celebrating the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts. It was horribly stuffy and boring, and Harry was sure at least half of his old yearmates were going off somewhere later to get drunk.

"You could always come with me, you know," she said, sipping some sort of blue drink that Harry was sure she'd brought herself.

"I'm sorry?"

Luna grinned, and pulled down the robes over her shoulder to show him a tattoo of what looked like a pentagram inside a sun.

"Not dating, of course," she assured him. "I understand how you feel. And the Redglares have warned me about the gifts you got, so I won't mind."

Harry told her he'd think about it.

* * *

 

He'd turned the resurrection stone over and over in his hand millions of times, never quite with the intention to bring someone back, because even if so many had died in the Battle he didn't dare to pull them back here from whatever Heaven they were relaxing in, because every single one of them deserved the peace of the afterlife.

An accident occurred near his flat in Muggle London, and looking out at the scene a day later he say Luna there flashing a badge and wearing a neat black Muggle suit.

Harry took her up on her offer the next day, because the quiet life was more boring than he could have ever possibly imagined.

* * *

 

Three years later, he and Luna were official rogue members of the Men of Letters. They both laughed at the title 'rogue', because it really just meant that they were Hunters who were good enough at what they did to join the Men and it was worth the look on their faces during initiation when Luna kicked their asses. Every member of the Men who had devalued her at one point or another was set up against Luna during her initiation, and the other members laughed as she beat them all and set a new record for melee fights against that many opponents.

Harry took her out to dinner later that night, as a celebration for breaking the record. She smiled all night, and neither of them worried about Magical Britain or any other sort of thing because it was their one night off, and even in a busy life a quiet day or two is certainly welcome.

* * *

 

Huge amounts of energy at random places around the globe had been recorded, flaring and fading within seconds, and the Men of Letters were rushing around the bunker trying to find an answer to what it could be when Harry's phone rang.

He discreetly answered it among the chaos currently surrounding it, and when the person on the other end hung up after an abrupt message he laughed and flipped in closed.

"Oi, Jack!" He called up to the man who was in charge of the bunker. "No worries, the situation has been resolved! It's just the Winchesters."

Brian and Arthur laughed, and Jack just rolled his eyes. "What the hell have they done now?"

"They should really send out a warning for this sort of thing," Brian laughed. "What do you wager the international community is having fits? Oh, they'll hate the Winchesters after this."

"With their penchant for breaking rules, I'm surprised they don't already!"

* * *

 

As the years went on, it was easier and easier to realize the consequences of the hallows.

Harry, who was getting gladder and gladder that he'd waited to retrieve the ring, appeared to be permanently stuck at twenty-one.

When the Men of Letters first started to realize this, his friends in the bunker panicked a little bit, thinking he'd been cursed. Harry had to calm them down and reassure them that no, he wasn't cursed, yes he knew what caused it, yes he was human, no he wasn't telling them what it was and most definitely NOT sharing the method.

Luna had a funny little half-smile on her face the whole time, and Harry finally asked her about it right before they left for the day.

"I was just thinking," she said idly. "I'll miss you when we're all gone, although I suppose you'll miss us more. You'll have to promise not to use the stone on me, though."

Harry's mind had jolted to a stop with the implication that he would outlive his friends.

"We should go to Hermione's wedding," Luna continued. "She'd like to see us. We haven't been very good friends lately, I've forgotten to send my letters. How about you, Harry?"

* * *

 

Dumbledore had once told Harry that Death is but the next great adventure. To an eleven year old sitting in the hospital wing, it didn't mean much. Now, much, much, later, the phrase held a very heavy meaning.

"I suppose," Harry said to himself, "If Death is the next great adventure, then I'll have to content myself with making this one good." He stood up slowly. "I wish you all luck, though. The man is a bastard. If you see him, give him a good punch for me, alright?"

He turned and left slowly, leaving behind the flowers he'd brought for his friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The End.


End file.
